The filmography of writer/director David Gordon Green is something of a marvel, particularly when considering his forays into multiple different genres that are as dissimilar as they come. Some may find laugh-out-loud joy in his Pineapple Express or Your Highness stoner comedies, while others channel a sadistic kind of glee at Green’s underrated Halloween requel trilogy. Green pivots drastically, with his newest, Nutcrackers, being another bold swing into unfamiliar territory. While this dramedy does manage to give Ben Stiller a little something to do outside of his norm, it misses a vital ingredient in the manner of familial matters: chemistry. With a cast that never gels and an abundance of juvenile fart jokes, Nutcrackers comes to Hulu missing the punchline of a great prank.
After their parents are killed in an unexpected car accident, four troublemaking kids are left without any supervision. Their businessman uncle, Mike (Stiller, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder), has been tasked with looking after them only until their social worker (Linda Cardellini, Scooby-Doo, Netflix’s Dead to Me) can find a new foster home. They live on a fully-functioning farm complete with animals and no cellular or WiFi service—certainly not an ideal fit for a work-obsessive suit-and-tie type. To make matters worse, these are no normal, well-behaved youngsters. They play pranks on Mike around every bend, such as telling him the middle of a nearby pond will give him cell service, or begging to be home schooled about sex.
To no one’s surprise, the longer Mike stays with the kids—and the closer the storyline creeps towards the Christmas holiday—the more they grow on him. He cannot seem to pawn them off on anyone else before they pull some crazy stunt, and end up back in his care. Some similar themes emerge to 1990’s classic Problem Child, yet executed on a far smaller scale. There are no memorable characters or strong people to root for, either. While the actual specifics of their story could be mined for an emotionally moving core, neither Mike nor any of the children seem willing to embrace their actual feelings. They want blood-soaked action told as bedtime stories, to take Mike’s Porsche out for a joy ride, or to fart freely whenever they so desire. The narrative feels far too hollow for a runtime that approaches two hours. The compact concept consistently fails to build on intruiging facets that could spruce up the material. Instead, we get a lot of Ben Stiller-annoyed-by-kids eye-rolling comedy.
Being set merely weeks before Christmas seems rather random as opposed to being an essential angle. Green attempts to highlight belonging and finding one’s home, pushing the holiday spirit and personal growth but failing to allow any of it to evolve organically. The repetitive nature of the slapstick humor will annoy more than entertain. A lack of depth makes the attempts at warmth come off even more empty. One almost-kissing scene between two children is ruined by yet another fart joke. I struggled to figure out what audience Green was trying to cater towards—Nutcrackers ends up too silly for adults, and too meandering for kids. Beyond a musical score that utilizes holiday sleigh bells, it also notably fails to embrace the Christmassy angle of its setting. Underwhelming and forgettable, Ben Stiller and company deserve better than the stale holiday leftovers of Nutcrackers.
Attempt to get into the spirit with an incredibly annoying set of children in Nutcrackers, letting loose to Hulu on Friday, November 29th.
